Biggest drop in production since 1993

Production as a whole in Spain fell by 15.8% during last year compared with the previous 2008, the worst fall since the National Institute of Statistics (INE) began keeping records in 1993.

Even after figures falling for 21 months consecutively, the fall seen in December 2009 was the lowest since April 2008.

Additionally, December's data confirm that the fall in production has started to plateau, with drops of less than 10% per month since October, compared to falls of over 20% seen this time last year.

The only sector that did not see a fall in production throughout the year the was the pharmaceutical industry, and the lowest falls were seen in the food industry (0.7%) and the chemical industry (1.9%).

Conversely, the sectors that suffered the greatest falls in production during 2009 were the furniture manufacturing industry (30.4%) and motor vehicle manufacturing (28%).

The greatest falls in production by region were seen in Navarra (22.2%) and the Basque Country (21%). Whilst The Canary Islands (11.2%), Castilla-La Mancha (11.9%) and Madrid (12.7%) were the regions that saw the lowest drops in production in 2009.